Sanford Company Starts Cleanup Of Toxic Waste

May 20, 1986|By Mark Andrews of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD — A hazardous waste cleanup company began identifying containers of low- level radioactive compounds at a closed Sanford chemical laboratory Monday in preparation for disposing of the materials.

Officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were supervising the work at the offices of American Radiochemical Corp., which is located at the Sanford/Central Florida Airport and has been out of business for two years.

EPA coordinator Chuck McPherson said the cleanup work will take several weeks and could cost more than $100,000.

McPherson said the radioactivity presents no health hazard to workers at nearby companies, but will be removed as soon as analysis of the materials determines their composition and strength.

The radioactivity comes from carbon 14, a heavy isotope of ordinary carbon, which American Radiochemical Corp. used to make radioactive tracers for pharmaceutical companies and other industries.

The company would chemically attach carbon 14 to materials supplied by customers who wanted to trace their products. For example, a new drug could be detected as it flowed through the system of a test animal.

Harold Jordan, president and owner of American Radiochemical, said Monday the EPA's presence is unnecessary and that he would ''be glad to decontaminate the site anytime.''

Jordan says he was locked out of his offices in 1984 by the Sanford Airport Authority after a dispute erupted about whether he would have to post a bond before he could begin cleanup work. Jordan said his original 1969 agreement with the city required him to post a $1,000 bond and called for the city to pay any cleanup costs beyond that figure.

But, J. S. ''Red'' Cleveland, the city's director of aviation, said the company was shut down after the state revoked its license. He said the EPA was called in after the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services' radiation control office was unable to make Jordan clean up the site.

Jordan denied Cleveland's contention that he refused a state order to decontaminate the facilities and that the state revoked his license.

McPherson said the EPA has contacted Jordan, but is not allowing him to perform the cleanup work. He said he could not comment on the EPA restrictions on decontamination because of its efforts to recover the cleanup costs from the company.

American Radiochemical could pay up to three times the cleanup cost, said Charlis Thompson, an EPA spokesperson in Atlanta.

Jordan said the presence of carbon 14 in his lab since 1969 allowed the radioactivity to build up to ''slightly above manufacturing levels.''

Jordan and EPA officials agreed that the radioactivity is of a low level and can be stopped by a sheet of paper. Also on the site, however, were flammable and explosive materials.

''It's a real long list of materials,'' said McPherson. ''Everything from A to Z.'' He said the process of identifying substances and counting the containers was just beginning Monday. Disposal may not begin for another two or three weeks, he added.

The spokesperson in Atlanta said the containers ranged in size from 8 ounces to 55 gallons.